


The Doomed Timeline

by ChaoticDekiru



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Clay | Dream & Technoblade Friendship (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Dream needs therapy but no one can ever know why, Fix It, Found Family, Gen, Gore, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Lots, Man i just love to make characters i kin suffer, Other, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Suicidal Thoughts, Swearing, This is gonna get worse, This is just a self indulgent time travel fix it au because i dont want Dream to be a villain, Time Travel, Trauma, english is not my first language so expect lots of typos, i wanna make them suffer, if i dont forget to keep writing this, no beta reader we die like everyone's mental health, not joking, of swearing, please read those, probable deaths too, will post trigger warnings on notes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29686353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticDekiru/pseuds/ChaoticDekiru
Summary: Everything goes to shit during Dream's imprisonment, and now he has to go back in time to change every single thing he and everyone did wrong.Sounds way easier than it is.ORI just really wanted Dream to be a good guy, okey?
Comments: 33
Kudos: 483





	1. Prologue: The start line.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm Venti, Frexkya, idk, whatev you wanna call me, it's fine by me.  
> Are these notes unprofesional? Yeah, they are, but like this is a fanfic, and i did it mostly for me so, who cares.  
> Normally i only write for myself, lotsa stories never to be published. Today i wanted to do something different.  
> English ain't my mother language so expects lots of typos and stuff. Feel free to correct me!  
> I hope you like this story. It ain't my first rodeo with fanfics, but it is with AO3, so... good luck to me and let us pray this project gets finished. Enjoy :)

"White flags!" His voice echoed through the mostly empty field. "White flags, outside your base, by tomorrow at dawn, or-!".

Dream stops. 

He knows this words, he said them once. He remembers just fine how those words brought war and pain to his server. He remembers the expression Wilbur and Tommy had at the time, and how Sapnap and George cheered at his decision.

(He also remembers how he started losing himself. How he got filled with hate and grief and pain and how he used those feelings with the hope of saving everyone from further destruction and how he *failed *miserably.)

"Dream?" Sapnap asks, just to his right.

He freezes for a second.

(He remembers fights, and screaming, and threats. He remembers how it was before the fall of L'manburg, and how it was after it. He remembers the visit to his prison and he remembers-... 

Sapnap voice remembers him of so many thigs. 

Sadly, most of them just make him feel sick)

"Dream, are you okey?".

This time is George who asks him.

(His body was bloody and destroyed last time Dream saw him. He wasn't breathing, and oh, wasn't it ironic? Everything he did was to protect his friends, to protect George, and there he was, dead, nothing no one could've done).

"I'm fine," he answers softly, thankful for the mask that covers his grim expression. "I'm fine, i just... i took a decision."

Tommy and Wilbur frown, their positions lowering onto a defense stance, silent.

"No need to do that," Dream waves his hand, faking disinterest. "Wilbur, I'll allow you to built L'manburg".

"What?!" several voices scream at once.

They don't notice how Dream tenses at the loud noise. They don't notice how he slowly walks onto an open area. No one ever does, and this time, Dream is thankful for that.

"Yeah. I just... I considered, and... I think it's the better option. You two won't stop until your little nation is up, and I really, really don't care enough about this issue to start a war." He actually did. Part of him was mad that he had to let all of this go, but it was truly for the better.

He didn't have the time to care about Wilbur's dumb obsession with doing drugs and starting problem. There wasn't enough time. He had to focus on fixing everything.

"The fuck do you mean you don't give a fuck about this?"

Part of him missed that noise. Tommy being a kid, screaming, making chaos. 

(The other, smaller part, just wanted him to shut up. He was so annoying. Wasn't most of the destruction on the Smp his fault? Didn't Tommy lie, and stole and broke everything and tried to kill innocent people over his own, egoistic desires?

Didn't Dream do the same?)

"Just that. I have more important things to do. I stopped doing important stuff to come here."

"This is important, you asshole!"

"Tommy," Wilbur warns.

"No, no, let him speak, Wilbur".

The brown-haired man looks at him with silent fury, but doesn't speak again. 

(Once, they were friends. When the other man wasn't looking for trouble, and to steal everyone's things to monopolize potions. When he didn't use his brother and his friends and his son to fight for a nation that was built in lies.

They used to sing together, and fool around, and be friends.

But no matter how early they are. It doesn't matter that there are years in between that day and this day. Some time in the future, the same eyes that watched him with fury will one day be filled with insanity).

"I don't know what the fuck it's going through your tiny American brain, but you're not taking this seriously! If you're taking this as a fucking joke-"

"I assure you I'm not," he interrupted Tommy. "I'm dead serious. I'll give you a delimited zone, but besides that, you're free to start your nation. We will sign some treaties so the members of the Smp won't try to attack you, and you will have to allow everyone in your city. Other than that-"

"Why?" Wilbur asks softly, confused. Angry. "You were ready to tell us to give up or you'd kill us. Why are you suddenly... So..." Wilbur doesn't finish his question, instead choosing to shake his hand, gesturing at him.

Obviously, Dream can't tell him the truth. He can't tell him that he came from the future to fix everything they've fucked up. to fix the destruction and death, and the ultimate ascending of the egg. 

So he settles for something simpler.

"Like i said. I have more important things to do than start a war with you over a city. You may do whatever your heart desires with your city. It will not be my problem anymore. As long as you don't cause trouble on the Dream Smp zone, i really don't care what you do."

There's silence. The wind blows in a way Dream hadn't felt in what feels like years. The sun felt warm, even through his green hoodie. Wilbur opens his mouth to speak, and Dream lifts his hand, silencing him.

"Whatever it is, we we'll talk about it when we sign the documents. You have one week to bring everything to-" He stops.

To where? 

He doesn't exactly have a house, and it's been long since this day happened on his original timeline. 

So where would he direct Wilbur to?

"The community house," Sapnap answers for him.

Sapnap doesn't look happy, but he looks willing to listen to him. 

(And wasn't that the first time in years Dream had seen Sapnap willing to listen?). 

The raven haired smiled slightly at him, and then looked back at Wilbur.

"The community house has always been neutral grounds, so if you're gonna sign peace treaties, it might as well be there."

Dream nods, relieved for the moment.

"Then it's settled," he claps his hands and keep them together. "In a week we will reunite at the community house, and there, we will sign L'manburg independence papers and some peace treaties. Are we on the same page?"

For a few seconds, no one answers. He can feel the panic rising, all his worries floating on his mind without mercy, making him wonder if he had already fucked up the entire mission. Then, when he is about to start running in an attempt to escape from the future, Wilbur speaks.

"Fine. Yeah. We're on the same page. Next week, same hour at the community house, right?"

"I... yeah."

"Good. Then we'll be there. Until then, Dream."

"See you then, Wilbur."

"Let's go, Tommy."

The blond boy glares at him, huffs, and walks away, in front of Wilbur, who glances at the Dream Team (and oh, yeah, George and Sapnap are there too), and then follows his brother.

Dream can finally breath.

"So, what was that about?"

Or not.

"What?" He asks, as if he didn't know what he just did.

"All that!" George exclaims, annoyed. "First you're telling them to stand back and suddenly you just, stopped!"

"Yeah. I thought the plan was forcing their hand into stopping all this non-sense!"

"That was the plan, but i changed my mind."

"We noticed! What the hell, Dream?"

(His mind goes somewhere else. To another place, to another time. Sapnap screams the exact same thing when he sees him alive.

"What the hell, Dream?!" Sapnap is furious. "How are you still alive?! I stabbed you, you bastard! You were supposed to die!"

And Dream isn't sure it it's about him escaping the prison or him trying to stop the corruption that the egg brought, but at this point, it's not really important. What IS important is trying to stop his corrupted friend from stabbing him again.)

His breath hitches. 

Logically he knows his friends are different in this time. He knows that they're not mad, that they're not angry. That their shouting is mostly confusion at the sudden change of heart he just had. But something dark fills his mind, terrible memories flashing through his eyes like a camera roll, and despite knowing, he can't get his body to agree.

"Dream...?" George asks, worried, probably noticing his reaction.

He winced slightly at the sound, but played off as if he was turning away from them. "Sorry for the surprise. I wasn't joking, though. I do have better things to do, i can't risk starting a war with Wilbur over something like this."

"Okey, fine, but what about his drug empire?"

"He stole some stuff. Are we gonna let him, just, get away with it?"

"Wh- no! I'm- this is what the whole thing about the treaties is for. I already have this planed. But i really have stuff to do, so-"

"You keep talking about having something to do. Dream, you just came back to the mainland. Shouldn't you rest?"

He sighs. "I came back because you called me. And don't get me wrong, I'm thankful. We really needed to talk to Wilbur about this. But there's something important and... I really need to focus on this."

He can feel the disappointment on (who used to be) his friends, but they nod.

"So? What are we doing now?" Sapnap asked. "Are you at least gonna stay the night?"

"I..."

He honestly doesn't want to. 

To be fair, last time he was anywhere near Sapnap, it became a manhunt game, except there was nowhere to go, and he always got stabbed. 

Last time he saw George, it wasn't even George. Just a bloody mash on the ground.

And what if he saw Bad?

(Bad, who was one of his bests friends. Bad, who always helped him, and supported him, and protected him. Bad who had begged the egg for forgiveness for Dream even after the whole "kidnapping Skeppy for the collection" fiasco. Bad who had stood against him when Dream rose up and fought against the eggpire on his last days, who was merciless and who killed-).

Dream pressed his own stomach with his hands.

"Maybe. I... I don't know yet. I have to do some stuff on the Smp anyways, so I'll stay for the next week. But I don't know if I'll have time to catch a break."

Sapnap made a sad expression. "Oh.. okey." Then he smiled. "Well, that's better than nothing. At least we get to see you around!"

"Yeah," George said, unconvinced. "Dream, if you need help with anything- well. You know we're here, right?"

"Yeah." He lied.

If they noticed, they didn't say a thing, and Dream was okay with that.


	2. The visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone Dream knows visits him, and they talk.  
> Dream just hopes next time they'll have a little more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw// Mention of panic attacks, minor gore, mentions of death, explosions...
> 
> If there's need of any other warning, please tell me, and i'll add it.  
> Most of these things are mentioned during the first part, the memory, and you can jump it by skipping until the first divider.

_It's Ranboo who gets him out._

_Actually, It's Ranboo and Karl, but it's Ranboo who does most of the work, breaking the code and allowing him to respawn outside of the prison._

_He discovers a few weeks later that the Sam is dead and that's why the prison wasn't as difficult to escape as it was meant to be. He didn't know at the time. How could he? The automatized potato system had helped so much Sam didn't even need to go see Dream, and since the crying obsidian is all over the place stopping any attempt of escaping he might have, there wasn't anything Sam had to worry about._

_The clocks stopped coming way before any sign of chaos started to worry the citizens of the Smp. Tommy stopped coming right after the incident where he got stuck on Dream's cells for a week. Actually, everyone stopped going after that. Even Bad._

_So there wasn't any way for Dream to learn about what had happened._

_It's only when Philza explains the whole thing that he understands the severity of the situation._

_And god, doesn't it hurts? He gave everything up, his friends, his family, his ideals and morals, everything to stop the egg from spreading, to make Tommy strong enough to stop that goddamn egg... and it failed._

_The resistance it's small. Puffy, who looks at him with distrust and fury, Philza, who is formal with him but clearly dislikes him, Ranboo, who is terrified of him because of the voices, Techno, who is in neutral terms with him, and Karl, who surprisingly it's the only one that's friendly with him._

_The rest is either dead or corrupted._

_He knows, he saw. He saw the red vines controlling Sapnap and Eret, and Tubbo, and Jack, Nikki, Foolish, Purpled._

_He also saw George's body. And Quackity's._

_And Tommy's._

_Tommy had been alive when he got out of prison. He knows because, despite not being allowed anywhere near him, Technoblade wouldn't stop whining about having to keep him alive. That was until the raid, where Tommy leaded the small resistance into the eggpire fortress. Unfortunately, after the raid, Techno had nothing to whine about._

_Bad had made sure of it._

_It was a Monday when the resistance fell._

_It wasn't even morning when explosions started to echo through the empty halls of the base they had set up._

_Puffy and Philza told them to run, mostly to Ranboo. They didn't trust him to stay with the half enderman, so he was dragged to the fight. He saw as Techno ran away, taking as many stuff as he could, Ranboo following him just behind. Karl was nowhere to be seen, and it suddenly felt like that day on the underground vault. The server against him._

_If Puffy and Philza hadn't been there, he would've died quickly, submerged on a panic attack while the infected people did to him what they deemed fair._

_But Puffy and Philza WERE there, and so he had the strength to fight back, to defend himself and his team._

_For a moment, it reminded him of the Dream Team. It felt as if George (Puffy) covered his back and announced him of an incoming attack as Sapnap (Phil) did massive damage with his fire (wings). For a moment, he felt like that old Dream he had buried deep inside himself to force everyone to unionize against a common threat. For a moment, he felt like maybe he wasn't far too lost to be saved._

_And then the explosion happened._

_He doesn't understand why they do it, but the only thing that remains from his two companions it's blood and flesh. He takes too long to recover, to wake up, but even if he hadn't fallen unconscious on the first place, the fact the two people who fought by his side used their own bodies to shield him from the explosion. It was too late to save them from the moment the TNT was set off._

_Techno finds him. The piglin hybrid has a broken arm, but he's okey and safe. He is also furious. Furious that Phil is dead. Furious that he gave up his life for Dream._

_At the end of that same day, only him, Ranboo and Karl were still together._

\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_

Once he got far away from George and Sapnap, he started to walk. 

There wasn't anywhere he wanted to go. Yes, he had a lot of things to do, but not everything had to be done at the moment, he had an entire week to do whatever he had to prepare on the mainland before parting ways and starting the mission to destroy the Egg.

Or like Karl liked to call it, "The omelet mission".

For starters, he had to bring Techno sooner, because his strength was a great ally. 

(He also misses him as a friend, a partner, but after the way the other hybrid looked at him...) 

(Maybe it's for the better he refers at the piglin as an ally at best).

He had to control the Badlands too, maybe that would slow down the egg's expansion.

"Dream".

He recognizes the voice. His hand flies to the borders of the hoodie, grabbing them until his knuckles go white. He shifts his stance so he can look back, ready to run. There, a tired face welcomes him with a smile.

"Karl?"

It is him. 

Not his Karl, he can recognize, because his Karl had both arms when they were performing the travel in the In Between, but it is a Karl nonetheless. He can feel his eyes water under the mask.

"Karl... you..."

"As you can see, I'm a Karl from... a little further into the timeline you came from," the brown haired nods as his own lack of right arm. "But, yeah, it is me".

Dream gives a small step towards him.

"What... what happened? What is the future like?"

Karl's smile disappears, and slowly comes back. "It's terrible, but some things are already better. Things are changing quickly. Not enough for the timeline to be fixed, but enough that some things already changed."

"Like?" he asks.

"Wilbur is still alive in this one. Corrupted, angry, and a complete deranged murderer, but he is alive. Puffy survived the explosion, although... well. Anyways."

Dream frowns. He relaxes, now that he is sure he is in front of someone he can trust.

"So almost nothing..."

Karl shakes his head in a no. "You think like that because you're thinking like this is about the big thing, about the whole timeline, but you're wrong, Dream. Small changes like that create big changes like, this."

Karl appears a book out of apparent thin air. The name in the title is "Tales of the Smp, the city of Mizu". He hands it to Dream, who knows perfectly the story that should be written within the pages of the book, except... 

Except it changes. It doesn't end in murder, but understanding, and forgiveness, and change.

"My memories are already getting altered with the change of history. Dream, if you keep this up, we might be able to save the whole timeline!" Karl says excitedly.

Dream nods. That does sounds good.

"And... and Ranboo?"

The question brings silence. The surroundings suddenly start to close up with tension.

"He... they haven't found him. He's safe, but..."

Dream knows what goes after that 'but', but Karl still finishes the sentence.

"I don't think he is waking up. Not in that future, Dream".

One again, he nods, only this time it feels more like a programmed answer to the sudden revelation Karl throws at him. Karl smiles.

"You're doing great, and it has only been a few hours. Dream, i believe in you. I know you can fix this."

Dream doesn't. He messed everything up last time, so how could he fix everything he ruined and more? He still smiles, because he owes at least that much to his friend.

"I have to go," Karl says, looking at a clock in his hand that was spinning wildly. "Staying here will probably mess up the timeline. Oh, and... Dream?"

"Yeah?"

Karl extends his hand to him. He blinks, extending his, too, and Karl drops something on his palm. It's a necklace, a really pretty one that has Karl's spiral as the pendant. It's pretty.

"This will both protect you and your memories from time breaks."

"From... what?"

"Oh oh." Karl's face drains of color in seconds. "Please tell me i DID tell you about the time breaks."

"I don't think you did."

The contrary facepalms, as a portal appears behind him.

"This isn't good. Oh no, oh."

"Karl? Karl what's-"

"Listen, Dream. Time Breaks are dangerous. I really have to go but- as soon as energy recharges, i should come back to see you. It might not be me, me. But one me will come and you have to ask them about the time breaks. It's important. No- It's imperative you do!"

"But then why don't you just tell me-?"

Karl opens his mouth to speak, but it's late. The portal sucks him like a swirl, and then he's gone, lights and everything going with him.

\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_

It's almost night when he reaches the community house.

Honestly, he does choke up when he sees it. 

He knows someone rebuilt it while he was in prison, but he also knows it was blown up once again during the Neutral Zone Take Over. 

After he made his personal mission to make everyone hate him, the only time he saw the building complete was just before destroying it himself.

But there it is, standing tall, almost new, both the creation and its inhabitants oblivious to the future it will have. (It had? It won't have? Does it matter at this point? Time travel is weird).

He gulps as he stands over the bridge. His breath hitches as he stands in front of the door, his mind stops working when the door opens in front of him (and he can't even remember opening it himself). Everyone inside stop what they're doing, and look at him.

Everyone is of course just Sapnap and George.

"Oh, hey Dream. You're back!"

Well, he didn't have anywhere else to go, so.

"I mean, this is technically our house. You can always come here," George frowned.

Oh. He said that out loud.

"I know, i know. I was just... I have some stuff to think about, and some sh- uh. things."

"We know, Dream, you said that like, nine times already." Sapnap grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah. You okey Dream? You've been acting weird".

"And, you know, it'd make sense if it had been from the moment you came back, but you had a sudden change during our talk with Wilbur. Did something happen?"

Yeah, the whole future. 

He blinks. He DIDN'T say that out loud. That was good.

"No. I'm just worried. I found something while I was outside the mainland, and I have to go back soon."

"So you just suddenly remembered something and panicked?"

"Something like that," he sighs, walking to a chair and sitting there. "Look, it's not important enough you have to worry about that, I promise."

"If you say so."

He winces as his two companions turn back to what they were doing before he entered the place. 

He looks around. It feels... weird. Really weird. Almost like a dream, or maybe even a nightmare. His heart twitches painfully as he remembers the last day this building stood on his timeline. As he remembers filling everything with TNT, and as he remembers standing far away while the sound of explosions and the heat of the fire made a terrifying symphony behind him.

He wonders what could've been if he had just let the place be. He wonders if Sapnap would've forgiven him after all. 

He looks at Sapnap's back while the raven haired teen hits a punching bag with excitement.

He hopes Sapnap wouldn't have forgiven him, because he doesn't deserve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first part received quite a lot of attention, and so i will keep writing this for a while.  
> I tend to forget 'bout stories, but i really like this one so i'll try to finish it :)  
> Hope you guys like the chapter.  
> The next one is almost done, too, but i'll probably wait until i have half of the 4th one to submit it, so, you'll have to wait a while because. Exams.  
> Still, I'll try to be quick about it.


	3. Old friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream has an unplanned encounter with an old friend.  
> Negotiations ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// Mentions of death and murder, depiction of a minor panic, hinting at suicide, but nothing explicit.
> 
> Note: from here, this things are gonna get worse, so if you're sensitive to this kind of things, this might not be your kind of fic. Sorry if it gets too dark for you :/  
> Mentions of death and murder during the memory and during Dream's meeting with Bad. the hinting also during the memory, just before it ends, just jump when they start talking about Techno.  
> The minor panic attack is during the first part of Dream's meeting with Bad. There's also mentions of panic attack symptoms just at the very end.
> 
> Hope you like it :)

_A day on the base was... Sad, actually._

_It was no one's fault. The distrust was palpable. Before Tommy's death, he wasn't even allowed to go out of his room unless he had been ordered something specific. Karl would give him food and water, and that was it. It almost felt like he was still prisoner on Pandora's Vault, but he was actually comfortable and has someone to talk to._

_And, Techno would sometimes drag him to the training room to spar, but it was rare._

_After the failed raid, sparring with Techno became a daily thing, but it usually ended up with one or both of them knocked out or severely injured, so after a while, they had to stop._

_He was also allowed to roam around the base as long as someone was with him. Usually Karl would accompany him. It was considerably nice, really._

_When the eggpire found them, they had to run away._

_Leaving everything behind wasn't a nice experience, but as everything burned, he had no other choice but drag his feet along the way._

_The next days were a nightmare to say the least, because from the six people that lived together for almost a year, only three remained._

_(They didn't speak about the forth one. He accompanied them, but he wasn't alive. He wasn't present. His eyes empty, his stance tired._

_They all mourned during the next morning, when the only thing left from the piglin hybrid was a tattered cape and supplies. Karl patted the distressed Enderman hybrid as he cried and screamed._

_There wasn't an actual body. No blood, no fighting. The fact that they had the cape told them that it wasn't Techno leaving them to fight for himself, either._

_There weren't any signs of Technoblade dying, if he even could die. But the lack of explanation, the lack of clues, the sudden banishment._

_Technoblade never died, but with how he disappeared, he might as well have)._

\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_

When Dream woke up the third day, he decided he had already wasted too much time.

Maybe not wasted, considering he had been reuniting materials for his plans, but he had used far more time than he had intended. The week wasn't eternal. Almost half of it had already passed, and he didn't have everything he needed yet.

As far as plans went... his wasn't developed. At all. 

He knew what he had to do, but he had always been more of improvising and doing things last moment instead of actually preparing. And of course he could make plans! He had planned his entire downfall after all! 

Of course, he had been stuck for far longer than he wanted in Pandora's Vault, but those are details. The important thing is that his plan went well. That's it. Whatever else happened after that doesn't really count. (The countless nights without sleeping, the malnutrition, and nightmares, and trauma? Details. That's what he deserved, anyways, so who cares?).

He has some materials for the containment of himself should the Dreamon thing happen. He remembers the egg from way back, hundreds of years before the funding of the Smp, but he doesn't remember the origin. What came before the egg? He remembers that the seal breaks after the Dreamon breached his defenses, so if he can stop the Dreamon from possessing him, he might stop the invasion from happening. Then again, that hadn't stopped the egg from expanding in the old days. 

First, he had to stop Bad from finding the egg, or stop the egg from manipulating Bad. Maybe if he protected Skeppy for turning into red, he could force Bad into giving the egg up should the first plan fail. (He felt guilty. He cared about Skeppy even if they weren't that close, and thinking of him like leverage against Bad felt bad. He didn't want to do that again; he didn't want to think like that again). 

Then, he should probably try to win Wilbur's trust. He had to de-escalate the situation for the elections, maybe try to stop Schlatt and Quackity from winning. 

And of course, he had to bring Technoblade as soon as possible. If he convinced the Piglin Hybrid to help him, he would win the perfect ally. (Maybe he could even fix the relationship he had once broken, in a different time).

He cracked his shoulders and back, instantly relaxing.

Staying up the tree he slept at last night during his whole wasn't a good idea.

"Hey Dream!!" Bad voice echoed.

Dream froze. 

He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready for this. He was the farthest away from ready right now.

("*Ranboo, Dream, when you two start to get anxious, remember to breath. Focus on the things around you. Find 3 things you can see. Then find two things you can touch. End with one thing you can smell. Focus on those things, let them ground you back into reality*")

He can see the leaf falling just in front of his face, and a bird chirping at it's eggs, and a branch of the tree he was in that's slowly waving with the flow of the air. 

"Oh! there you are, Dream!"

("*There you are, Dream! We finally found you! Oh, it's been so long, my friend. Far too long!! You can finally join us and the egg!!*")

"Can you come down? I need to talk to you!"

"Uh-" he choked up in air. "I... yeah. I'll be down. Just... just give me a second, Bad."

"Sure!"

He can touch the wood, and it feels rough under his hands. He can also feel his hoodie, (clean of any blood, soft, barely some scratches on the cloth, something he hadn't felt in years now). 

He can smell... muffins? 

He smiles softly, relaxed, back in the present. (Future Bad smelt like blood most of the time, a side effect of the egg's control on people. He remembers also following Sir Billiam, covering the place natural odor with expensive incense before he had run away after being discovered as a traitor. It probably had to do with the fact that the followers of the egg always were driven into murdering whoever they could as a sacrifice to the egg, but you know, it could be anything at this point).

Then he jumps down. 

It's beautiful. After being in prison for so long, his future self couldn't do parkour anymore, because his body had become stiff and weak from the malnutrition and the lack of exercise. Afterwards he trained again with Techno's help, but it had never been the same. His body just wasn't used to the constant movement anymore, no matter how long he spent sparring and running. 

But his old body, the one he was using at the moment, it felt so... alive. It was obvious he had spent hours running and fighting and just... living. It felt amazing.

"Dream! It's nice seeing you. You were away from quite some time!"

Bad voice is the thing that drags him back to reality after a few seconds of zoning out, thinking of things that hadn't happen yet. (Things he can't allow to happen ever).

"Hey Bad. Long time no see".

Bad nods excitedly.

"I'm so glad you're back! Are you staying for a while?"

Bad carries a basket, probably filled with the muffins he had identified earlier. He also looks colorful, at least when compared with the cult leader from the future. 

It was nice, seeing this Bad again. 

"I don't know," he admits, slightly sheepish. "I have to stay here and recollect some things before this Saturday, after that, i will maybe go to the outside lands. I left some things unattended to come."

He actually didn't even remember what he was doing at the time. Probably exploring for materials. It wasn't as important... he hopes.

"Oh," Bad mumbled in a soft and slightly disappointed voice, and then jumped a little, smiling. "Well, then we better do something together before you go! I would love to do some muffins with you again!"

Dream wonders, how could the egg corrupt this? How can someone so nice and gentle be transformed in such a blood thirsty murderer? 

Dream knows the answer. He doesn't like it.

"Sounds nice. I have like, three more days. You busy?"

Bad shook his head. "Nope. I might be building my house with Skeppy, but you call me whenever and I'll catch you at the community house!"

"Then it's settled. Sometime during this week we're baking some fucking awesome muffins".

"Language!!"

Dream giggles, satisfied with Bad's reaction.

"Oh, here, by the way," Bad says before turning to a side, searching in his inventory. He finds something and makes it appear, grabbing it softly. A big piece of cloth, folded like a blanket. "I found this a few days ago in a mineshaft we found near our lands. It's almost the same green as your hoodie, so i thought you might like it."

Bad hands him the cloth, and he unfolds him. It's a poncho. The fabric it's really soft to the touch, yet it's clearly durable and... it's really pretty.

"I... Thanks, Bad. It's really nice." He chokes up.

"Hehe! I knew you would like it!". Bad closed his inventory, and turned around, still looking at Dream. "Well, i have to go for now. See you soon, Dream!!".

(" _See you soon, Dream," Bad says, smiling, looking at him with blank and dangerous eyes. "May you find your way back to us soon." The man shakes the blood off of his clothes, smudging it even more_.)

Then he is out of sight, lost behind several trees. 

He looks at the poncho, (his hands trembling, his mind yelling at the sudden memory, his breathing quickly rising), unable to decide between burning it or using it. He wishes Ranboo or Karl were here, because they would probably help him choose, but they're not. And so this is his responsibility. 

(It shouldn't be that hard. It's something so dumb. It's definitely nothing like the choices he had already done, or like the actions he had already taken; like burning L'manburg to the ground, or stealing important things from the people that lived in the server, or even like threatening to kill Tubbo right in front of Tommy. It was just a Poncho).

(A Poncho given to him by a murderer. By a cultist).

(By Bad, his friend, an innocent person who was yet to be corrupted, and that was nothing like the crazy man from the future).

(He did it. He corrupted everyone. He killed everyone. He killed-).

(It was just Bad. Good old BadBoyHalo).

(Everything, everyone. Even the Last Ones Standing had already fell to Bad's power).

He keeps it. Maybe it'll come handy later.

\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_

It's Saturday.

The week had been... interesting. 

He evades the community house as much as he can, generally sleeping on the trees, keeping ward, staying alert. He wants to trust Wilbur, and he wants to think they wouldn't attack while they were working off L'manburg's independence, but Dream had already seen the actions of the musician, and what he could and WOULD do to get what he wants. 

What? He, trying to avoid George and Sapnap? Of course not! He was a busy man, after all. The sole protector of the Smp, guardian. He had already failed once. He can't fail again. That's the only reason as to why he is staying away from social interaction. Of course this isn't trauma maintaining him away from the dream team in an attempt to keep the terrifying memories away! Nope, nuh uh, nain, nada, non, not at all.

And he did spend time with them! he had helped them make some muffins with Bad just a day ago! And they would accompany him during the L'manburg negotiation.

And oh, god, that was today.

...Had he set an hour? How desperate would Wilbur be? How early would he be at the community house? It was actually kind of late. A few minutes after noon. He had spent an entire week thinking about this and he had completely forgotten. He was in so much trouble.

He sprinted, running on a branch, using the momentum to jump into another, and pushing himself onto another, and another. After a few minutes of running and jumping, the clearing where the house stood became visible. One more jump, and he rolled on the ground, landing securely. Some noise came from the front, and on the bridge, he could see Wilbur and Tommy facing George and Sapnap. They were clearly bickering; he could hear them from his position.

He slowly stood, and walked over there. He wasn't making a single sound, not even when he reached the wood floor of the bridge.

"I already told you, Wilbur, we don't know where Dream is".

"He said we would meet today! This is bullshit!"

"Well, he is not here, and you have to wait until he gets back!"

"We have things to do. We can't stay here all day."

"Well, maybe if you had been earlier, you would've found him. It's past noon already. He probably came for breakfast, got bored because you didn't arrive, and left".

"We said we would meet at the same hour we met during the confrontation. Which is about this hour"

"Yeah! If he was the dumbass that kept waiting, then it isn't out fucking fault he is so stupid!"

"ehem," he faked cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "I'm here".

George and Sapnap instantly relaxed, while Wilbur and Tommy tensed even more, turning half around, enough to see him, not enough to stop looking at the rest of the team.

"Sorry I'm a little late, i had some stuff to do last night and i overslept a little. But I'm here".

"Yes, I see that"

"You kept us waiting! So goddamn irresponsible, Dream! We have shit to do too!"

"Tommy. Shut up." Wilbur sighed.

Dream smiled slightly under his mask. 

Then he started walking towards them. Actually, he wanted to go inside the house, but the position of both brothers quickly shifted into a defense stand. Dream stopped. (Tommy stance was the exact same one the kid had used when they were surrounded by the egg's followers, the difference created by experience barely noticeable. It seems some things never change. He hopes most do, tho).

"Uh, i know we are on bad terms, but we did come to the community house because it's neutral grounds. So... are you gonna stay like this? Or are we going in? Because I'm sure there are lots of things to sign, and it's gonna be uncomfortable without a table".

"Oh," Wilbur realizes, slightly relaxing. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go".

Dream gets ahead of the rest, entering the house, taking a deep breath to regulate his breathing, (running around was tiring, after all). (Or maybe it was from seeing Tommy again? So young, so excited, so alive. He hadn't had time to look at him the first time, he had barely registered he was even there, trying to de-escalate the situation as quick as possible). He hears Wilbur and Tommy entering right behind, and after them, Sapnap and George.

"Well? What are we waiting for?"

Wilbur takes two books from his inventory. Two, very big books. Dream kinda regrets letting him go wild, but...

"Here. This is the declaration of independence," Wilbur hands him that one first, "And these are our part of the treaties."

Dream takes both. He starts skimming through the pages, nodding at some things, and frowning at others.

"We might need to correct some things," Dream mutters, then looks at Wilbur. "But overall, it's okay. I just have one thing. Like... a little favor? I mean, it's not a favor, you have to do it if you want L'manburg up, but-"

"Just tell me."

He presses his lips into a firm line, and then speaks, determined. "No walls."

Wilbur blinks, confused. "No... Walls?"

"Wilbur, you are an amazing person, despite your... tendencies, and choices. I know the real reason you're doing this. I think everyone in this place knows, minus Tommy-"

"Hey! The fuck does that mean, you bastard-!"

"-But. You're rising an entire nation on the name of freedom and comradery. I will let you," He appears a few papers from his inventory, handing them to Wilbur. "But i want you to honor the reason you're saying you're doing this for.

"If," Dream continues, "you start L'manburg, you have to allow everyone to join in. I understand if later you ban certain, problematic people, but there has to be a valid reason, and a fair trial for that to happen. And you can do actual walls to protect the place if you want, the 'no walls' thing is more metaphoric. Also, no stealing. You can do whatever you want inside L'manburg zone, i don't care about your drugs while you're in there. But if you take things of the people from the Dream Smp land, or monopolize any material, then you'll be breaking our treaties, and I will retaliate with force. Are we clear?"

Wilbur doesn't answer for a few seconds, sighs, and then nods. "Clear."

Dream smiles. "Then," he takes a Gapple from his inventory, and hands it to Wilbur. "For L'manburg, a rising nation. I hope you and your people will rise above their station. Good luck, Wilbur."

He looks at Tommy. 

His throat closes, the panic setting on his chest as the kid looks at him annoyed, a memory of those eyes, devoid of life, tired, broken. (Dead). 

But it's not like that. The blue eyes look at him brightly, fire and determination in them/

"Good luck, Tommy".

He signs the papers, and after a few minutes of talking, they leave.

The next day, the construction of L'manburg starts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Venti: I will absolutely not write a lot of this, i have to focus on college
> 
> Also Venti: So I'm in the middle of the fifth chapter. Nice.


	4. Traveling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream goes outside the mainland on his mission to invite someone. Drama ensues because SOMEONE needs therapy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// Trauma, Nightmares and Night terrors, gore, hinting at suicide, mentions of murder, explosions, depictions of a panic attack.
> 
> Not a trigger warning, but also Dream having one brain

_After his escape from prison, he spends lots of time on the base. In a middle sized room, empty besides a bed, a closet, a desk with some stuff for writing, and a bathroom.  
He hears Tommy screaming around, and Ranboo teleporting. Puffy comes to see his condition once or twice a week, and Philza visits him at random times to bring him books and to explain the outside situation._

_He isn’t actually trapped in the room. He tried the door several times, and it had been permanently unlocked after his first month in the base, but it was an unspoken rule that he wasn’t allowed outside, and the only reason he knew that, was because both (older) adults always seemed hesitant of leaving him alone, as if they were doubting his ability to stay out of trouble.  
He also knows it’s mostly because of the younger members of the Pro-Omelet resistance, because he doesn’t see Tommy once for nine entire months. (A full year, actually, but that was yet to happen)._

_He sees Ranboo, who isn’t traumatized enough to have an entire set up so he doesn’t have to look at Dream. Still, they don’t talk. Dream doesn’t want to bother him, and Ranboo is terrified of him. He recognizes the mark of the voices calling him, of The End asking to be let free, and the higher beings using the poor boy for their bidding. The poor hybrid it’s dealing with enough. He shouldn’t be the one to worsen his load._

_Techno visits him from time to time. They don’t speak a lot, communicating mostly by gestures. When they do speak, it’s friendly banter, but they never do it for long. Techno is the only one who allows him to go out, but it’s only by literally dragging him into a big, open room where they spar and practice until Dream can’t move anymore.  
They aren’t rivals anymore, mostly because Dream is just too weak after almost a full year of prison to actually fight back. It’s more like, Techno re-teaching Dream how to fight, and Dream is thankful. His old habits still stick, and he learns a combination of his past fighting style, plus the new, rawer and focused on balance style that Techno uses._

_Karl he sees almost every day. He makes sure to bring him food, water, and general supplies. He stays until late talking with him, brings random board games. He never explains why, and he always deflects when Dream asks. And after a while, Dream stops questioning it. He accepts it, and lives like that, and they become friends.  
They talk about the weather that they can’t feel or see underground. They tell painful but beautiful memories of the times before the egg.  
That’s when Dream learns of the powers Karl holds._

_It’s an accident, actually, when instead of ‘Dream’, Karl calls him Cornelius, a name he hadn’t heard in centuries. A name that was supposed to be buried on the same grounds he had buried his town. Buried under more and bigger failures he had made._

_He refuses to speak to Karl for a week, but when he calms down, Karl tells him everything._

_“Dream, I’ve met you thousands of times in thousands of different lives, I remember you as Cornelius. I hear of you as Hubert. I listened your adventures when you took a mantle as Dominic, and when you were the mysterious hero of the Garfee town. I was there, just… Not as Karl.”_

_It makes sense, and it doesn’t.  
He doesn’t believes at first, but seeing the diaries it’s enough proof to make him trust Karl._

_“Then why would you tell me this?” He asks, genuinely confused. “If you’ve seen my mistakes, the people i failed to protect, my fall from grace, my descent into madness, why would you tell me something so important?”_

_It takes a few seconds, but Karl starts laughing._

_“Dream, you are not a bad person. You’ve never been one.”_

_He blinks, flinching as if he had been struck._

_“To be honest, i don’t know why you made the choices you made recently. I don’t know what led you astray from the path you chose from the start, but i do know that there’s a reason. It’s not a justification, you’re a terrible person and what you did to Tommy sucked. But… I know there’s a reason.”_

_He hesitates, but he takes his mask off, letting Karl see his face filled with tears, he walks to the time traveler, hugs him, and he does something he hadn’t done in his really long life.  
He talks, explaining himself._

_And Karl does something even more surprising; he listens to Dream._

_______________________________________________________________________________________

“So you’re really not staying,” Sapnap mutters in disappointment. “Come on Dream! We haven’t see you in weeks! Can’t you stay just a little longer? We could do something cool! Like go to the nether, or make a farm, or, i don’t know!”

He feels guilty, looking at his teammates reaction, but he truly can’t stay any longer.  
Mostly for his mental health.  
Actually, specifically for his mental health. He loves them, a lot. But he knows how things are gonna end.

(Because it’s always like that. He knows, he has seen it. He has seen towns, and cities, and kingdoms, all rise, and all fall, either by his hand or by others. He knows people betrays, and kills, and abandons. And he knows George and Sapnap are no different because he HAS seen it. How George misunderstands his attempts at protecting him. How Sapnap grows to be resentful of Dream to the point of thinking Dream is past saving, to the point of actually hating him. It’s always like that).

“I’m sorry, Sap. But i don’t have a lot of time. I really need to fix some things near the border.”

“What about L’manburg then? Are you gonna let them build up freely? What if they go outside their zone?”

“I asked Punz to stay vigilant of them. He and Purpled will step in if anybody tries something funny.”

George pouts. Actually, Sapnap does too. Dream laughs softly. He missed this. It’s almost like before-…

“Okey, listen,” He says, getting their attention. “I really do have to go for the week, but when i come back, we can do something together. You two chose, i won’t even complain… a lot.”

The two smile slightly, and nod.

“But George can’t choose. He will probably say something like sleeping the whole day, or something”.

“I will not!”

“Will too!”

“Will not”

“Will too!”

“Will-! ugh! even if i did, and i would totally not, sleeping would be far better than choosing something like burning some trees.”

“Hey! I suggested going to the nether.”

“Well, we could go search for a mushroom biome, and-”

He loves this, so much. It’s almost like it was before L’manburg.  
He kind of wishes he wasn’t absolutely terrified of them, because maybe if he weren’t…

“Well, then… see you soon, guys.”

Both stop their bickering, turning to Dream. Sapnap jumps at him, hugging him tightly. George sheepishly smiles at him.

“See you soon, Dream!” They both exclaim with different amount of intensity.

And then he leaves.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Sometime he has nightmares.

Sometimes it’s actually more like always.

As time passes, he has nightmares of different things.  
He remembers nightmares where someone tried to kill him only to fail, and yet, being unable to save the town’s people. Of the empty but lively eyes Cat gave him before that night, and of the empty, dead eyes he had seen on his corpse after the killers left the village.

He remembers nightmares where he braided soft pink hair and brown, almost black hair, and then, red vines coming out of the floor, attacking him, exposing him, both his friends turned enemies.

He remembers nightmares were the blood followed him through the land.

He remembers sealing the egg, (and oh, if that isn’t one of the worst. The terrible smell of blood, the distressing and eye-hurting brightness of the red and white that surrounded the place, his family at the time completely corrupted by the egg’s power.  
And he had to end their misery before sealing the egg, for he couldn’t risk the infection spreading once again.

(It hurts so much, because he didn’t know at the time, but the infection stopped after the sealing.  
And it hurts so much because he had filled his hands with the blood of people he loved, just to stop something that was as bloodthirsty as he apparently was.  
And it hurts so much more now that he knows that he is to weak to properly contain the egg. That all he had done was for nothing).

Recently, tho, he has nightmares of the future.

Of hurting his old friends, of destroying L’manburg, of driving Wilbur to madness, of driving Tommy into a severe depressed state where the kid almost…

Sometimes he dreams of the prison. He hears the lava falling, and nothing more than the echo of his head hitting against the obsidian walls.

Sometimes, it’s The Raid. The vines surrounding him once again.  
It could be the memory, seeing the Hero fall to the ground, covered in blood, Bad’s eyes blank and gleeful, as if he hadn’t just murdered a kid. It could also be a sadistic modification of the memory, where things went even worse, and where everyone was dead but him, the place filled with several monsters using the bodies of the people that lived on the Smp.

Other days, he would wake up puking at the gross memories of the bits and pieces Puffy and Philza had left behind after protecting him from the explosion.  
If his brain was on the mood, it would even add Techno’s face looking at him with hate and disgust.  
Maybe even a fake memory of Techno’s dead body.

Logically, he knew Techno could still be alive in the future. He hadn’t seen a body.  
Not that THAT would stop his brain from fucking him up even more.

Now, the last nightmare, was the Fall.  
It wasn’t the worst, but it still hurt a lot.  
When they took Karl, when they injured Ranboo, when his old friends tried to kill him once again.

There were a lot of nightmares, and they were constant.

Like today, when he woke up screaming in the middle of the woods, crying terrified of something that he was too early to stop.

Yeah, fun times.

Half of the week had already passed. He was already far away from the mainland, and he was close to the central zone, so he just chose to keep walking, sleep be damned. He had better things to do than torturing himself.

The place is really calm. Nothing like future L’manburg, or like Eret’s castle.

Now that he thought about that… what was he gonna do with the king position? Should he… hand it to George?  
It’s just… part of him knows that it’ll rise trouble. George could be attacked, hurt, (transformed into a pulp using violence). And if he didn’t? Would he grow bitter? George knew of his plan of eventually crowning him. Would he be resentful if he chose someone else, like future George had when Dream gave the title back to Eret? Or was he in time to explain his reasoning with present George and still keep what little relationship they had at this place in time?

A hissing noise snaps him back to reality. He blocks with the shield just in time to avoid getting blown up by a creeper, but a little heat and some burning pieces of gunpowder fall on him. At this point, even with his old body back, his pain resistance it’s too high, so it doesn’t really hurt. No, the problem is that the sound of explosions triggers him.

It starts slow. Numbness in his fingers, a heavy feeling in his chest, his throat closing, not allowing him any chance of getting the needed air into his lungs. It feels like he is dying.

He tries, really tries, to remember Karl’s words. He looks at some flowers nearby, (Puffy had a beautiful braid, decorated with flowers that day). He finds some feathers on the ground, (black, like the calcined ones that were near him the day of the explosion). He observes his hands, (and they’re filled with blood and calcined flesh. How had they gotten like that? How, how how how how how- he knows how).

He touches the grass, (he hadn’t noticed when he got on his knees, but that wasn’t the issue right now). He touches his mostly clean clothes, (so different from the one he had worn that day, ruined by fire and dirt and blood).

He smells smoke.  
(He doesn’t know if it’s because of a creeper, or if the eggpire just bombed them. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t know, he just couldn’t do anything).

And suddenly, he could. Dream gasps for air, desperate. Like a drowning man does when he finally gets out of the sea.  
Something shines near his chest. The necklace, he recognizes, his mind cleaning out the remains of the fog it had created in the panic. He doesn’t know how, but the necklace had numbed him enough for him to calm down. Enough, so that he snapped out of a panic attack. He rasped a pained giggle.

Karl really was the MVP of the Dream Smp.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

He got to the central zone early morning, Wednesday morning.  
And as the sun rises, the message is successfully sent.

The answer is relatively quick.

Technoblade: You’re whitelisting me on the DSMP?

Technoblade: I mean, weird flex, but okay.

Technoblade: I can be there as early as Sunday, hope it isn’t urgent, whatever you need.

Technoblade: Actually, I might stay there for a while, I’m ditching the Antarctic Empire for. Reasons. Gg if you thought this was gonna be a temporary alliance.

Technoblade: You’re stuck with me until one of us fucks that up.

Technoblade: See you Sunday, green Teletubby.

Great.  
Now it’s time to go back to the Smp. Who doesn’t love three days long trips?

He should install a connection on the mainland, because making a half a week trip just to send a message was a shitty option. He’d do that as soon as he got back.  
For now, it was time to start walking. Maybe he could reach the mainland before needing to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short explanation  
> Here servers are like different universes. There are several ways of traveling to the central universe. Most of the servers include outside communication by default, but after dealing with the egg Dream decides to get rid of the communication with the central server to stop the egg from escaping. On the original timeline Dream decides to open it once again after the war against L'manburg, which is why there isn't a way to communicate with Techno or outsiders besides literally walking to the border of the land.  
> Don't worry, Techno laughs about his dumb decision on the next chapter.  
> Thanks for the support <3  
> I'm glad you guys like this.  
> I'm already about to start writing chapter 7, (and the next chapters are a little boring but we need the build up for the exciting stuff), but it might be a while before i upload it because i'm filled with projects atm.  
> Don't worry, i am taking care of myself :)  
> I just hope you guys are doing the same!!  
> Please take care, and until next chapter!


	5. Grounding presence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOMEONE arrives at the Smp, and procedes to laugh at Dream poor life decisions.  
> Sapnap has time to annoy Dream-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW//Murder. Specifically Kid's murder, we all know what kid I'm referring to. Villainizing, mentions of using SOMEONE as a scapegoat. Manipulation. Some symptoms of panic.
> 
> Almost everything is in the nightmare at the start

_After Tommy visits him, things get worse._

_It’s honestly his fault. He snapped.  
Sure, Tommy had annoyed him, and had pestered him, calling him different things that Dream KNEW he was, but didn’t want to hear.  
Still. That was no fucking reason to kill the child._

_To be slightly fair to himself, it was something that had been coming from a long time._

_He honestly envied Tommy. While Dream gave everything up to give the kid the opportunity to rise and be the hero, the child mostly used this to get out of trouble he had made.  
They had villainized Dream, and he had accepted that role eagerly to get rid of the egg, only to see Tommy mess up things again and again.  
Stealing things, lying, burning houses, threatening Dream. The exile originally was a plan to humble down Tommy, and it had worked.  
Dream could choke on guilt later. At least Tommy had learned his lesson.  
But then the egg started to dominate, to win. He really didn’t want to, but he had to do it._

_So he piled up all of the Dream Smp against himself, letting Tommy grow into the hero title._

_He accepted his place on the prison, staying alive only in case he had to bring someone back after the egg’s ultimate demise._

_He stays there._

_Time passes, and visits stop coming. He slowly loses his sanity, his clock, and his will to live. Then Tommy visits._

_Tommy talks, and gloats, and mocks, and he is all mighty, happy about his freedom, about Dream’s fall, the monster, the creator of all evil things in the server.  
He gets stuck for a week after a random attack to the prison, (although it might have been planned, most likely by the egg. Not that he could know, with the lack of communication with the outside).  
The last day Tommy would be stuck there, Dream snaps._

_And yeah, it had been coming for a long time. He didn’t want to, but oh, how he hated the kid who took his place as the protector of the Smp. Who stole everyone’s hearts and became the hero even after all the bad things he had done. How he hated the kid’s obsession with something material when he had amazing people by his side. He hated that Tommy didn’t even doubt once when taking almost all his lives when he had to prepare for a week before even starting to prepare his downfall, to bullshit his way into making it seem like he could actually muster the strength to take Tubbo’s last life._

_(He couldn’t, not really. He knew about Punz betrayal, and he had stalled. Why else would he give the kids so much time to talk, when he could just get it over with? If he was as heartless as everyone thought him to be, perhaps. But he wasn’t, no matter how good he could act… At least, he couldn’t until all he had been dragging pushed him to the edge, and he reacted to Tommy’s yapping)._

_(And god, Tommy just wouldn’t shut up)._

_So he punched and scream until all his energy was drained, until he felt to tired to keep doing it, until the movement stopped. He felt sick, all the blood in his hands burning in a way that wasn’t physical but still hurt, and a lot._

_Of course Tommy had been fine. That was what the book of necromancy was for after all._

_He didn’t complain when Sam fixed the automatized potato system._

_He didn’t say a thing when everyone stopped visiting him._

_It was what he deserved.  
He might had have good intentions with his past actions, but he would never forgive himself for doing something like that. __He_ _was_ _okay with rotting away in the prison._

_That’s why he cried when he say the same scene in front of him.  
Just this time, there was no book to fix this, it’s remains burned and buried away somewhere in the Badlands._

_And when the Raid was declared a failure, and Tommy was about to fall to the ground, Dream could see the fear in the blond kid eyes._

_“Dream-!” The kid yelped, begging, crying, his hand extended towards him._

_(Tommy who hated him with his entire being. Tommy who was so terrified of him he had the whole place arranged so they wouldn’t even look at each other. The same Tommyinnit, begging to Dream for help)._

_A last slash finished him up, and Dream threw up right there and then._

_Bad’s gleeful laughter filled the place. “My goodness, this is going to be a little hard to clean.” Then he looked at Dream, his expression peaceful, happy. “Now, Dream. Come on, my friend, just join us! It will be so much easier once you do.”_

_He doesn’t remember a lot after that. He knows he made Bad bleed. He remembers the demon’s expression of surprise. He knows he was dragged away from the Badlands._

_He knows that was the last time he saw Tommy, and he knows that eventually, the guilt is going to kill him.  
Choosing a kid as the Hero… He was the exact same kind of monster Wilbur was, making a child fight his battles, pushing him into the front, getting him killed._

_It was all his fault._

_______________________________________________________________________________________

He coughs. He wakes up coughing, actually, and he keeps doing it until he pukes, and only then he stops to take a breather.

He slept like two hours, and after that nightmare, (memory?), that had been enough for the rest of the week. Not that the week was going to last any longer, as it was Sunday already,

He drank some water to clean his mouth, and after that, he just kept walking. The middle land was near, just an hour or less away from his actual position, and he’d rather just get there early and deal with whatever he had to do, too tired to care about anything other than that.

And he had to oversee L’manburg, too. He didn’t have any messages on the transmisor so there was no news about the new nation and-

A sound comes from behind him, it’s not a Mob.  
He doesn’t straighten up, nor slows down. He just keeps walking. Whatever, (whoever), it’s following doesn’t need to know that he heard them.

He hums, trying to focus on the sounds. He doesn’t, or not a lot. He does hear some movement, but besides that, the person who follows him it’s incredibly quiet, with light steps.

Right. They’re on the right side.

Where does he have his axe again?

They jump. It’s super soft, but it makes enough sound for him to notice, and he takes out his weapon, blocking a sword swing in a graceful move. Techno smiles at him, using the parry to jump back, quick to equilibrate his body, so then he straightens his back and lowers the offending sword.

“I see you’re as fast as ever on your feet,”

Dream basically deflates. “Are you crazy? You could’ve killed me!!”

“But i didn’t. You reacted well, you’re alive. And I’m pretty sure this place has a three lives rule, right? You would’ve been fine,” Techno says, waving his hand as his sword disappears in thin air, joining the pink-haired man’s inventory.

“Well, what if i hadn’t?”

Dream wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he had been too slow. It had been a miracle he caught Techno on time. He was too tired by the lack of sleep and a proper meal. He could’ve actually died to the Blade’s blade.

(He has to remind himself that he isn’t running on one live anymore. He is back, he can see his counter. At this point everyone has their three lives, and it will stay like that if he has something to say about it).

He sighs. His mask covers his fear, and he is thankful. His response is one that could be confused as someone paranoid, (which he was), instead of someone actually terrified of dying.

“Goddammit, Techno, there’s people out for my blood on the Smp, don’t scare me like that”.

Techno snorts. “You could probably take them down easily. It’d be really sad if you couldn’t,” the hybrid replied.

“I mean, yeah, but that’s beside the point.” He waves it off, faking a lack of concern he didn’t actually have. “I’m surprised you’re so early. I left the central zone just a few minutes after you answered and you still caught up with me.”

Techno blinks slowly, as if he had just said something really stupid.  
“You went all the way to the central zone just to send one message.”

It sounds like an affirmation, despite the fact that the wording is that of a question. Dream, suddenly feeling really stupid, nods.

“I… yeah?”

“I mean, let’s forget the fact that you could’ve just build a communication cell on the Smp,” the contrary grumbles, suddenly looking like a tired dad whose child just told him he burned the stove trying to make cereal. “You went to the central zone and didn’t even consider to look around in case i was there.”

He processes the information, and takes a deep breath.

“You were on the central zone.”

“I was.”

“When i sent you the message.”

“Uhum.”

Dream claps his hands, keeping them together for a few seconds, before gesturing at random.

“Fuck.” he very smartly concludes.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

He accompanies Techno to the principal part of the Smp.  
Well, Techno accompanies him. Dream acts like a tour guide for most of their travel. He explains a little of how the place is scattered, and he tells him of the most important places on the nether, plus the principal routes of transportation.\

A few minutes before they reach the community house, Techno stops.

“And?”

Dream frowns, confused, stopping too. “And? what?”

The hybrid looks flatly at Dream. “Instead of waiting a week for the connection to the central land to be formed, so you could send messages like a normal, intelligent man, you walked for a week to get there and to come back. Just to send me a message. You gonna explain or are we gonna act like you didn’t just do a minus twenty IQ move?”

He clears his throat, tilting his head back. “Well, uh.” He fakes some coughing and turns around, showing his back to Techno and putting his hands on his own neck. “Okey, yeah, I do need something.”

Techno hums. “Figures”.

“Listen! is important,” he says, looking at the other once again. He lifts one of his hands, showing three fingers. “The old gods of this land have spoken to me, and they told me about three important things that will come. Two tragedies and one miracle.”

The other looks… Well, not surprised, actually, but he does look slightly shocked.

“What do you mean?”

Dream fully turns his body towards Techno.

“I heard from the gods that your brothers will fall. That a tyrant will take their new land, and he will cast them away. I also heard that a child will soon find his way into the land, a powerful hybrid that will need assistance so he won’t fall into the wrong hands. And i heard about an abomination breaking free of it’s sealing, luring innocent people into becoming murderers.”

Techno puts his hand on his chin, thinking. “I see.”

“And well, I thought you’d be a perfect option-”

“To fight the tyrant and the abomination,” Techno finishes, uninterested. “Given my title and stuff.”

“What? no. I thought you might be a good sensei for the kid.”

(He remembers Techno’s tender smile at Ranboo, and the friendship the two hybrids developed. He remembers how Ranboo’s fighting style became a big, important part of him.

He thinks, that if anyone can keep Ranboo safe from the monstrosities of the Smp, it will be Techno.)

The pink haired man looks at him like he just lost his head.

“I mean, i know you’re not too excited of being a caretaker, but i have a feeling this won’t be a literal child. Maybe as old as Tubbo is,” he continues explaining. “It’s also not an obligation. You’re free to stay on the Smp whether you choose to help me or not, although you might find yourself involved on the conflicts the people like to make.”

He looks at Techno, expectantly, waiting for a reaction. The other man nods.

“We’ll see.”

And that’s it. No more questions. The hybrid starts walking once again, only stopping to look at him as if asking him if he’s coming or not. Dream follows.  
They stop once again when they reach the community house.

“Welp,” Techno speaks up. “I’ll leave you here. We’ll see each other soon.”

“You should probably go see Wilbur and Tommy. If only to say hi. They’re probably gonna be happy you’re visiting them.”

“Eh, they’ll be fine. If there’s something I know well about them is that I’m never getting rid of their presence.”

Dream chuckles.  
“See you later, Techno.”

“Bye, green Teletubby,” He answers, waving his hand and walking away.

How curious.  
Techno’s house was in that direction on the original timeline.

“Was that Technoblade?”

Dream does not jump. He absolutely does not. You did not see him jump, it’s all in your head.

“Did you just jump? Oh god, did I scare you? I scared you!”

“Shut up, Sapnap.”

“I scared you!! You just jumped!!” Sapnap starts laughing at his expense, and Dream slightly pushes him. “Look a Dream, the scaredy cat!”

“Sapnap I will kill you, I swear to god.”

“HAHA, Dream just got scared because of me!”

“You’re impossible, I hate you.” He grumbled, no real bite behind his words.

Sapnap just kept laughing, and after a few seconds acting like he is mad, he starts laughing too. (He missed this).

“I’m never gonna let you forget this.”

“Oh, come on, you’ll forget this in like a week.”

“Nope, not happening. I’ll tell this to everyone I know. Punz, George, Purpled. Hell, I’ll tell Tommy and Wilbur too. Even Technoblade will know.”

“No one will know, you’ll forget in like, an hour or something.”

“Nuh uh. I will tell everyone.”

“You will not.”

“Will too”

“Will not”

“Will too-”

“Girls, you’re both pretty, now shut up,” George complains, looking at them from the door of the house. “You’re making so much noise and I’m trying to code.”

“George! I scared Dream!”

“Sure, and Technoblade joined the Smp.”

“Yeah! how did you know?”

George rolls his eyes. “Please, Sapnap.”

“Hey! It’s true!!”

At this point, Dream is fully wheezing.

“Whatever you say, Sapnap.”

( _“Whatever you say, Dream,” George mutters, his voice angry._

_“George! Wait, you can’t-!”_

_“Just go away Dream. I really don’t want to see you.”_

_George goes away.  
The next time Dream sees him, there’s little of George to even recognize_).

“Dream?” Two voices call to him.

He flinches slightly, giving a step back when he notices them getting closer. He regrets it instantly, because his two friends share a look, and then stop trying to touch him.

“Dream, are you okay?”

“Yeah man, you’ve been acting weird lately.”

“I mean, we know you’re busy and you have your secrets and stuff, but normally you tell us at least your schedule or something, but these two weeks… we barely even saw you at all!”

Sapnap frowns. “Was it Wilbur? Did he do something?”

That catches his attention. He shakes his head and lifts his hands in a surrender gesture. “No! no. This has nothing to do with Wilbur. What even make you get to that conclusion?”

“Well you’ve been acting weird ever since Wilbur and Tommy started their stupid nation. Is that it? Is it their nation?’

“We can still stop them, you know?” George asks him, his gesture as mad as Sapnap’s. “It’s your land, after all. They don’t really have a right to it.”

“No! Guys, it’s fine, really. I don’t mind them. Like- of course I’m not happy, but I honestly, really don’t give a fuck about what they do.”

The other two make a face, not happy with his choice, but not anyway.

“Please talk to us, Dream.” George pleads in a low tone.

Dream frowned under his mask.  
(“Please talk to us, Dream,” George begs. “We can- we can still fix. Please tell us why you’re doing this.”)  
He looks to his side, focusing on a random flower, (red, like the ones Ranboo said he left around Tommy’s house after the prison incident. Red, like the ones Ranboo and him had left on the remains of the base). He hears someone sigh, but nothing more than that.

“Okay. Yeah. Fine. I-, I’m gonna be inside, okay? Uh, reading some more stuff about coding. If you need me, you know where I am.”

“Sure,” he mutters, before clearing his throat and rising his voice slightly. “I mean, sure. Yeah. Later, George.”

The man looks at him for a few seconds, before smiling, nodding, and turning around, walking back to the community house.  
Sapnap blehs.

“Get a room.”

Dream wheezes. “Oh, come on Sappy. You jealous?”

“Me? Jealous? Of you two? gross.”

He gets awfully close to Sapnap. “Sappy!” he sings, jokingly. “Do you want a kiss, Sap?”

“Puaj! get away, Dream, you’re being gross.” Sapnap complains, showing him his tongue with a fake disgusted gesture, laughing. The bandanna teen also pushes Dream away from his face.

“Owww. But Pandas, you always want some kisses. Is it because the George thing?”

“No, It’s because you smell. Did you even wash yourself on your trip?”

“Maybe!”

“Dream!!”

“Just a kiss! Come on!”

“Stay back! I will hit you!”

“hehehe…!”

“Dream! I told you to stay away!”

“Sapnap!! Come here!!”

“Dream! NO!”

____________________________________________________________________________

“Dream?”

“yeah?”

“Are you bleeding under the mask?”

“Oh, yeah, my nose is broken.”

“Your nose is what?! How?! You were outside for half an hour?”

“Sapnap has a pretty neat right hook.”

“Sapnap has a- SAPNAP!”

“I’m not sorry!! I warned him!”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ;)  
> I'm alive :D  
> Thanks for the support, i'm glad y'all like this.  
> I might be drawing some designs soon? Uh, if i do, I'll post them probs on instagram and then i'll pass my user here so you can see :D!!  
> Uh, MVP=most valuable player, something really used on gaming! I'll probably be using more gaming terms, so, if you have questions about that, do ask, i won't mind answering :D  
> Hope you like this, because I'm already writing chap 8. I don't think you are getting out of this (Unless you stop reading but i will not count that. We aren't quitters >:D)

**Author's Note:**

> WELL, just before you stop reading this, be warned: I'll try to have at least one chapter more written before uploading. If things go well, i might do it weekly. God, maybe twice a week.  
> But we all know how stuff is and stuff is the fact that a lot of writers are lazy or too busy to keep schedule so, please don't be mad if i stop with this story. I do promise to try and keep writing this, if only because i like the concept of this a lot.  
> Oh, and... idk, be gay, do crimes. I don't mind if this ever blows up, i don't think it will because damn, the typos and stuff are annoying, but feel free to show this to your friends :D  
> Hope you guys enjoyed!


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